Kottayam: A temporary employee of a veterinary hospital has been sacked from her job after she narrated to a TV channel the service rendered by former Kerala Chief Minister late Oommen Chandy for her family.
Sathiyamma (52), a sweeper with the Veterinary Hospital at Kaithepalam, near Puthuppally, lost the job that she had for the past 11 years.
While the channel reporter sought the voters' response on the upcoming by-election to the Puthuppally legislative assembly constituency, Sathiyamma was also asked about Oommen Chandy who was the legislator for 53 years.
She then recalled that Oommen Chandy had personally intervened and helped her when her son Rahul died in a car accident. She added that he had attended her daughter's wedding when he was the chief minister. She went on to state that she would vote this time for Chandy Oommen as a token of gratitude for this.
Chandy Oommen, who is the son of Oommen Chandy, is the United Democratic Front candidate for the September 5 bypoll necessitated by the death of his father.
The channel aired her response on Sunday. When she came to work yesterday, August 21, the District Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department called her over the phone and instructed her not to report for work henceforth. Sathiyamma said the Deputy Director informed this to her while indicating that there was pressure from above to get rid of her.
She got the job as a sweeper for a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 through the Animal Husbandry Centre at Vaikom. After four years, she was shifted to Kaithepalam.
This veterinary hospital here is under the Puthuppally Panchayat ruled by the Left Democratic Front. Sathiyamma's husband Radhakrishnan worked as a carpenter. He can't go to work now due to some health issues, the family's only source of sustenance was her income.
An upset Sathiyamma said she has no politics in particular and cannot forget what Oommen Chandy did to her and hence told the visual media so.
Meanwhile, Bijimol, Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, told 'Manorama' that Sathiyamma was hired from the Kudumbashree self-help group and was removed as her turn was over.
